to the rantings of Naive and Unrepentant Old Hippy..................................

Looking at the power of words and ideas . Creating Something .

Its just about these words - "Love Life - Seek Peace - Stop War"- and putting them out into the world - like seeds to grow , flourish and spread . And by sharing with people these words and thoughts - to empower them , to create them as a reality.

An act of creation .

Is WAR actually a good thing for humans ?

If you had a free choice , right now, as if by magic – to stop war , to just STOP WAR , get rid of it , to just not have it any more

Would you say “Yes” ?

You could dither a bit – and say things like - “Yes But … “ or - “ It depends” or - “Sometimes war is necessary, to stop Hitler for example “ or - “ We have to defend ourselves “ But I don’t mean that .

And I don’t mean HOW , or WHEN or WHERE or any of those things

I just mean if you could choose , right now. If it actually was up to you , to have war or not to have war.

What would you choose?

My request is that you make that choice , right now.

The Story

It began at a school in Clacton.............

There are already over a thousand children and their parents , at the school in Essex , who can see these words every day in the playground (see below)So, please have a read , see what you think . If it is something that touches , moves , or even inspires you, then please let me know (Contact Page)

"We have seen that we cannot solve human problems by fighting " Dalai Lama

The idea

I am an artist who was asked to build a war memorial at a school in Clacton, UK, to commemorate 50yrs after the 'Second World War'. I said I didn't want to build a memorial to war, however , I would, if they liked , build them a Peace Monument - which they jumped at.

To cut a long story short, I worked over several weeks with over a thousand children aged from 6 to 11yrs creating and firing 1000 ceramic tiles.

They had complete freedom of ideas and design , limited colours and in three groups , based on "Love Life, Seek Peace,Stop War" Of course we had lots of great discussions and adventures into these words , and what they meant to the kids. On one day I also invited teachers , dinner ladies and school staff to join in and make their own tiles.

On another day we invited from the surrounding community local councillors, politicians and veterans of the last war through the British Legion. At one point , as I stood in the school hall watching , on one side dozens of children beavering animatedly away at decorating their tiles in bright colours, and on the other side groups of civic leaders and eldery ladies and gentlemen, sitting down at the little low tables , squatting on tiny chairs made for smaller folk , I was amazed at the buzz and energy being created.

Then something magical began to happen.

One of the elderly, but lively and animated ladies , moved across and sat at one of the kids tables , then a couple of the kids also moved to the other side , and soon they were all mixed together, helping each other, admiring their work and chatting away.

And the theme was still "Love Life, Seek Peace, Stop War" This was so moving and powerfull . The children listened to stories about the war , what it had been like for the soldiers and the ordinary people at home.

One lady told how she had been evacuated to Clacton from London during the Blitz , a small lost soul taken in by a local family , who , because her own family did not survive the bombing , was brought up by them and had stayed in Clacton all her life.

At the end we had a 1000 beautiful painted tiles - which we then fired in the school kiln.

And eventually , me and good ol' Rob built the elegant monument in the playground , stuck on all the tiles and the stainless steel panels .